1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a device used in golf, and more particularly to a device which facilitates use of a putter as a "plumb line" for aligning a putt.
2. Background Art
In the game of golf, putting the ball while it is on the green is challenging, particularly where the putting green is not flat. For accurate putting, an uneven relief requires an exact evaluation of the curvature of the surface of the putting green over which the ball will travel en route to the hole. Without such an evaluation, the player may choose the wrong direction to putt the ball, thereby adding strokes to his/her final score.
To evaluate the relief of the putting green, players typically use their golf clubs as a kind of "plumb line". This is accomplished by gently holding the handle of the golf club between the thumb and forefinger such that the club has sufficient freedom of movement to assume a vertical position under the influence of gravity, with the head of the club acting as the weight for the plumb line. This technique, however, is not perfect. No matter how gently the putter is held, freedom of movement of the club's shaft is invariably somewhat restricted by the user's fingers making a truly vertical orientation unlikely. And in the absence of a truly vertical orientation, assessment of the relief of the surface of the putting green is likely to be in error.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a device for facilitating evaluation of the relief of a putting surface.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such a device which may be used in combination with a conventional golf club, typically a putter.
It is yet a further object of the invention to provide a device of the aforementioned type which is easy to use and inexpensive.
It is still a further object of the invention to provide a device of the aforementioned type which in use is fitted on a golf club and which may be removed therefrom as desired.